A. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly, to systems, devices and methods of waking up a host of the electronic device from its hibernation or sleeping state.
B. Background of the Invention
Almost all electronic devices reserve a sleep mode, a standby mode or a hibernation mode in which some, if not all, programs are inactive and as many processing units as possible stay in a hibernation state. These modes save significantly on electrical consumption by deactivating unneeded subsystems and only retaining necessary data storage in some random access memories (RAM). Given the large number of electronic devices in use worldwide, tremendous amount of energy may be conserved by using these energy conservation modes. Moreover, these energy conservation modes are especially critical for battery operated devices, such as mobile devices, not only because these devices are becoming universally applied as a trend in the future, but also because battery charging for these devices significantly impacts user experience. The sleep mode extends the battery life and reduces the charging frequency, largely improving the user experience with the battery operated devices in addition to the general benefit of energy conservation.
Most electronic devices terminate the sleep, standby or hibernation mode, and return to normal operation upon receiving a notice from device users. Oftentimes, the device users have to press a hardware button on the electronic devices to deliver the notice that they need to use the devices. For instance, most personal computers rely on a wake-up press of the power button or clicks on the keyboard to wake up. Although moving a mouse may also be sufficient to activate computers now, wake-up methods generally require a physical touch by the device users, and however, such a touch is not always available. For instance, it is nearly impossible to wake up a sleeping mobile phone that is located beyond an arm's reach, particularly while the device user is driving a car. Therefore, a need exists to remotely wake up a sleeping electronic device, while still maintaining low power consumption during the sleep mode.